ADM and the Zachman Framework

This chapter provides a mapping of the TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM) to the Zachman Framework.

Introduction

A number of architecture frameworks exist, each of which has its particular advantages and disadvantages, and relevance, for
enterprise architecture. Several are discussed in Other Architectures and Frameworks .

However, there is no accepted industry standard method for developing an enterprise architecture. The Open Group goal with TOGAF
is to work towards making the TOGAF ADM just such an industry standard method, which can be used for developing the products
associated with any recognized enterprise framework that the architect feels is appropriate for a particular architecture. The Open
Group vision for TOGAF is as a vehicle and repository for practical, experience-based information on how to go about the process of
enterprise architecture, providing a generic method with which specific sets of deliverables, specific reference models, and other
relevant architectural assets can be integrated.

To illustrate the concept, this section provides a mapping of the various phases of the TOGAF ADM to the cells of the well-known
Zachman Framework.

The Zachman Framework

The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture, sometimes simply referred to as the "Zachman Framework", has become a de
facto standard for classifying the artifacts developed in enterprise architecture. It is a logical structure for classifying
and organizing the design artifacts of an enterprise that are significant to its management. It draws on a classification scheme
found in the more mature disciplines of architecture/construction and engineering/manufacturing, used for classifying and
organizing the design artefacts relating to complex physical products such as a building or an aircraft. Zachman adopts this
classification scheme to the design and construction of information systems.

The Zachman Framework comprises a 6x6 matrix.

The columns represent various aspects of the enterprise that can be described or modeled; and the rows represent various
viewpoints from which the aspects can be described. Thus each cell formed by the intersection of a column and a row represents an
aspect of the enterprise modeled from a particular viewpoint. The architect selects and models the cells that are appropriate to
the immediate purpose, with the ultimate objective of modeling all the cells.

The six viewpoints are:

The Scope (Contextual) viewpoint - aimed at the planner

The Business Model (Conceptual) viewpoint - aimed at the owner

The System (Logical) viewpoint - aimed at the designer

The Technology (Physical) viewpoint - aimed at the builder

The Detailed Representations (Out-of-Context) viewpoint - aimed at the subcontractor

The Functioning Enterprise viewpoint

The six aspects - and the interrogatives to which they correspond - are:

The Data aspect - What?

The Function aspect - How?

The Network aspect - Where?

The People aspect - Who?

The Time aspect - When?

The Motivation aspect - Why?

Although the Zachman Framework applies to enterprises, the Framework itself is generic. It is a comprehensive, logical structure
for the descriptive representations (i.e., models or design artefacts) of any complex object, and it does not prescribe or describe
any particular method, representation technique, or automated tool.

The strength of the Framework is that it provides a way of thinking about an enterprise in an organized way, so that it can be
described and analyzed. It also enables the individuals involved in producing enterprise information systems to focus on selected
aspects of the system without losing sight of the overall enterprise context. In designing and building complex systems, such as
enterprise systems, there are simply too many details and relationships to consider simultaneously. At the same time, isolating
single variables and making design decisions out of context results in sub-optimization, with all the attendant costs and risks.
The challenge is the same whether the system is physical (like an aircraft) or conceptual (like an enterprise system). How do you
design and build it, piece by piece, and step by step, such that it achieves its purpose without losing its value and raising its
cost by optimizing the pieces and sub-optimizing the overall?

Mapping TOGAF to the Zachman Framework

The scope of the four architecture domains of TOGAF align very well with the first four rows of the Zachman Framework, as shown
in the following mapping of these domains.

Several domains overlap in the above diagram: the earliest domain to address a cell has precedence in the coloring scheme.

The mappings of the individual phases of the ADM are shown in detail below.

Note:

In addition to the mappings to specific cells given below, the detailed representations and functioning enterprise viewpoints
(the lowest two rows) of the Zachman Framework are also addressed and represented in TOGAF, through the Architecture Governance
Framework (see Architecture Governance Framework), and through ADM deliverables such as
the various Architecture Contracts (see Architecture Contracts). These ensure the validity
and viability of the delivered solutions to meet the business needs.

Preliminary Phase: Framework and Principles

The outputs of this phase are:

Framework Definition

ZF: Business/Function (model of the architecture development process)
[R2,C2]

Technical requirements (drivers for the Technology Architecture work): identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing the
implications for work in the remaining architecture domains; for example, by a dependency/priority matrix (e.g., guiding trade-off
between speed of transaction processing and security); list the specific models that are expected to be produced (e.g., expressed
as primitives of the Zachman Framework)

ZF: System/Motivation
[R3,C6]

Business Architecture Report

Updated business requirements

Note:

The Business/Data cell is covered by the Data and Applications Architectures.

Composite Mapping for Phase D

For more detailed information on the Zachman Framework, refer to any of John Zachman's publications, or the Zachman Institute
for Framework Advancement (ZIFA) (www.zifa.com).return to top of page

Navigation

The TOGAF document set is designed for use with frames. To navigate around the document:

In the main Contents frame at the top of the page, click the relevant hyperlink (Part I, Part II, etc.) to load the Contents
List for that Part of the TOGAF document into the Secondary Index frame in the left margin.

Downloads of the TOGAF documentation, are available under license from the TOGAF information web site. The license is free to any
organization wishing to use TOGAF entirely for internal purposes (for example, to develop an information system architecture for
use within that organization). A hardcopy book is also available from The Open Group Bookstore as document G063.